Spring-box.



T. H. SYMINGTON.

SPRING BOX. APPLICATION FILED'JANJ. 1913.

Patented Jul 14,1914.

2 SHEETS--SHEET l.

LEGEJJSSQ.

T. H. SYMINGTON'.

SPRING BOX.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2. 1913.

Patented July 14,1914

L Y w W m H J m y w Q m O bkd 06% 3Q. 9, 2 n0 6, 3 AU 1 L WLMzaae 257% 60 M enemas H. srmrnc ron, or BALTIMORE; MARYLAND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

" p I seams-sorry" Patented July it, rare.

Application filed was 2, 1913. Serial in. 739,781.

To all w/mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, TnoMAs H. SYMiNe-, Tom, a. citizen of the United States of America, residing at the city of Baltimore, 5 State of Maryland, havewinvcntcd certain new-and useful Improvements in Spring- Boxes, OfWl'llCli the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to a draft gear in which the shoek-absorbing member consists of a set of plate springs or a series of sets of such springs so placed th'at-the-butling and drawing-stresses are distributed thron the plates, setting up a bending stress in each plate, thus affording a yieldin resisti anceevhich' absorbs the shocks of butiing. and

drawing.

It also rolates to the springs and to the casing or box for inclosing and supporting the same.

Draft gears embodying the features thus described are inuse. subject of various United States patents, and the present invention relates to an imcombinations of the features thereof.

In order to simplify the operation ofas senibling draft gears of this type, housings or boxes have been provided which serve to inelose andsupport the plate sprin s. These'boxes are open to a greater or less degree at the ends, and thus provision is made for the admission of followers or other means for applying the stresses of balling and drawing directlyto the centers of the end plates. In the draft gears of. this type heretofore in use, the spring box is an elongated tube or housing of square or rectangular cross-section, open at one end to'admit the springs and the various spacing members which serve to space the springs and transmit the stresses, while the otlicrend is suiticicntly closed to support the-ends of the springs and open centrally to admit the fol- ;lower or other means for applying stresses to the centers of the springs as heretofore described.

The spring boxes or housings now in use and to which reference has bcenmade, constructed as described, are bulky and cumbersorne, and with them the spring 'plates are necessarily placed with their greatest dimension or len th horizontal. Therefore the yoke which incloscs the box is in a Yertical plane with its opening horizontal, the

These are also theproved form of the device and to various bulk and construction ofthe box being such that it cannot beinserted in the horizontal yoke now most frequently used with the spiral spring and friction draft gear.

The object of the present invention 13 to produce a box for the spring plates, adaptved to support the spring plates in a vertical position within the yoke and so constructed that it may be inclosed Within the horizontal yoke which is now used with the spiral spring or friction shock-absorbing member,

the present device being interchangeable with the other shock-absorbing members.

\Vhen they are.placed vertically, the plates may be made of any convenient length and are not necessarily limited in length by the distance-between the sills as when placed horizontally.

Another object is to so construct the box that the springs may be conveniently placed therein and the box closed and fastened so that the springs and the spacing members are secure against loss or displacement from any cause. To this end the box is made in two sections, divided on a plane transverse to'the length of the box. The sections of the box may be connected together in any suitable manner. In the present instance they are shown as having ears or flanges on the'contacting edges or" ends which are boltcd together. The contacting eudsof the sections are open to'admit the spring plates and spacers, and each end of the box is provided with means for supporting the ends of the springs, but the ends are open cenftrall y to permit the front and rear followers "to bear on the front-and rear plates respectively. The bearing surfaces of the followers are curved in a vertical plane cen- Ttrally of their vertical length, and the front and rear'foll'owers bear on the front and rear plates respectively. the contact extendling across the plates substantially in a. horizontal line.

Another object is to so construct the box that not only the springs and spacing members may be placed therein and fastened. but that it also contains the front and rear followers, the box containing the springs, the front and rear followers and the spacing members being adapted to be mounted between the front and rear stops and being suitably apertured at the front and rear so that the yoke may transmit drawing stresses directly to the rear follower while the drawbar transmits butlin stresses directly to the With the 1 spring box defront follower. scribed all the smaller. movin parts]. are combined so thatthey are in e ectaisiiigle member and may be handled as jsuch,- and the draft gear consists of but three movable and removable parts, thedraw-bar, theyoke, and the boa-containing the springs," foamy; ers and spacing members. Thus the possibility of dropping the followers, the plates or the spacers i s-entirely eliminated andthe operation of assembling 'the-idraft gear-Ibecomesone of:extreme simplicity;

In the accompanying drawin I have illustrated a draft'gear with a liorizontal yoke and providedwith a shock-absorbing member consisting'ofa set'of draft plates constructed and mounted in accordance with my invention in its preferred form;

Figure 1 is a view of thedraftgear divided on its center line, one half being a top plan, the othera horizontal, central section onthe line'l, 1' of Fig.2: Fig. 2 is a vertical, central, longitudinal section. vFig. 3 is a transverse vertical section-taken on the brokenline 3,3 of Fig. '1. Fig. 4 is a view lialf'in plan and half-in horizontal,

central cross-mtion showing anotherform of the invention. I

' Referring .to thedrawing by referencenib morals, the draft gear-consists of a draw-bar 1, slotted at;( to receive a key, a horizontal yoke 2 having two sets of elongated, alined slots 3 and 4.. The draft sills are provided with front and rear elongated, a-lined slots 7 and 8, the slots 7 as shown, exceeding'in length the.=slots 8. A keyli engages the for-'- ward slots 7 of the sills and extends through the forward-slots 3 of'the yoke, and the slot 6 'of the draw-bar, fitting the latter slot; \Vithin the-yoke isa front follower. 9 slotted at 1.0 to fit the rear key 11, which latter key engages the rear slots S-in the sills and extends through the rear slots 4 in the yoke. As shown, thereis a rear follower'l2- within the yoke and engaged by its rear. arm '13..

At the rear the yoke strikes in butiing against the rearstop 14, which, as shown, is a transverse member extending from sill to sill, the batting stress, applied to. the rear follower being in this instance transmitted through the rear. arm of the yoke in the form of a compression stress to the rear stop. It will be noted that the rear surface 15 of the front followeri) and the front surface 16 of the rear follower 12.are curved, being convex in a vertical plane, preferably having their lateral elements straight.

Within the yoke,- between the followers,

the front plate 18 bearing centrally ,of-its 'length against the curved surface 15 ofthe front follower and the rear platel19 bearing against the curved surface 16 of the'rear'follower, is the shock-absorbing member 17 consisting. of a plurality of-sets of-flat spring has 2d,?liiliitiiei fsntj iaintg. siiuustrated, ,there are'n neplates ineach set and .founs'ets'of, lates are shoivn but any number may be use depending'upon the resistance which it is desired to oppose to the drawingand buffing shocks. (Inorder to flea: the platesand to utilize their resistance. to bend mg in absorbing the shocks, the to "and bot- "tom" ends "of the front set 21 and t e rear set "22 are separated from the corresponding top and bottom ends of-the adjacent sets of 'pla-tes '23 and-24 by'ineans of spacing members 25 ofcross-stctioris taperingv inward toward' thece nter of the :box, andthe intermediate sets'Q3 and 24 are spaced and supported by meansof a spacing member 26, iaving its greatest width at its central point and tapering uniformly to its .upper and lowerendsp a 'Thetheory :of the operation 'of the spring plates is apparentu-vThe stress in balling and drawing is applied by .either follower to-the:.center of the adjacent; outside-set of plates,- by these plates at'their ends to the spacing member 25,- by this spacing meniberwto theiends of the: nextsintermediate spacer 26 which transmits. the pressurkto the. center of. thei next intermediate set of plates 23 or 24, hence to the spacers 25 fandito the end set ofplates, which latter set fof. plates bears ,wagainst the corresponding ifollower, the contactbeing-substantially in atransverse, horizontal line as described.

.The follower which'receives the stress from ,the springs 15 rigidly supported against'the front "stop' or "rear'zkeyill ifdrawing or against the rear stop 14: if. bufiing, and the stresses are thusappliedwto the sills, the

shock being absorbed by the plates.

Thespring plates described are inclosed within a box or housing, the object of which is to support the plates and simplify the operationof'assembling the draft gears. The box 27,'as-shown,1sof across-section similar to the plane'of the plates but of slightly increased dimensions. It has openings 28 at tral, vvertical,Etransve'rse plane,so-that it is I actually formedin two-sections 30 and 31,. which meet at the longitudinal center ofthe box. ;;Each section-is provided with ears 'or flanges '32 neanthe contacting edges, and

when the-gear is set up, these sections are bolted together, as shown, and in assembling the-springs, two sets, witha spacer 25, are

placed in each-section 30 and.31; The sec- Etions are then; brought togethersvith't-he cen- .;tral spacer26- between the intermediate sets set oflplates 2301' 24, and by this set to .the centre q assets,

23 and '24, and the],'sctions'a're'fjoinedfby; bolting the ears 32' toge ther. Each lateral} .facef'offthe box jis provided; with parauei, 'horizontal'f' flanges (34' forming aseat for pocket to receive the arms of the yoke'f2.

To support the springs and box,iany "suit- "able bottom plate 33 is utilized, and a. cover plate 34, extendingfrom sill to'sill as does. plate 33, may be' placed on top.

the bottom of the box.

The parts enumerated, combined "as de-, scribed, will be foundto constitute an efficlent plate spring shock-absorbing member which may be used with a draft gearyhavmg-a 'liorizontal "yoke and ma be'conveniently spring box 35 is slightly elongated so that it contains not only the springs 20 and spacing members. 25 and 26, but the front and rear followers 36 and 37 are also mounted within the box. The latter is preferably divided centrally on the transverse plane at 38 into two parts 39 and 40, each art being provided with ears 41 through w ich'are passed bolts 42 for holding the two parts of the box in-the relative positions shown. The box 35 and the front and rear stops 43 and 44 are so related that the box is Just equal in its overall length to the distance between the stops, and the front and rear faces 45 and 46 of the box rest against the rear faces of the front stops 43 and the front faces of the rear stops 44, the stops being held in Iixed relation to theframe by any suitable means. The box is shown in connection with the vertical yoke 47, but it will be apparent that the box may be turned through an angle of 90 and used with a horizontal yoke as is the box first described as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

To permit the yoke to come in contact with the rear follower, the box is slotted or apertured at the rear end at 48, the aperture extending across the rear of the yoke and forward in the top and bottom walls as indicated. The front end of the box is similarly slotted at 49, and though the ends of the box have been termed front and rear, it will be apparent that these terms are merely used for convenience and that the box is in fact easily interchangeable as to its front and rear top and bottom, etc., being symmetrical in regard to the plane 38. The apertures 48 and 49 referred to are of less dimension than the front and rear elevation of the followers 36 and 37, that is there is a considerable portion of the end wall of the box left at each side as at 53, 54

follower, the latterbeing en a) ga poaf h yfaioaesan stle their "escape from-the box.v These portions 1 of the boxmarked 53,154 also s'ervg to transmit, by

compression to the stops 46," the butting and ra in t which {are applied t0 the *d'raft gearQ 3 j [The operationv ofthis' device is believed r be quite"apparent from the description and drawings. The box containing the springs, spacers;and' follower is placed between 'the' sills resting on" any suitable support as;tlie bar {50,1an'd' engaging with its front and'rear surfaces the'front and rear steps 43 and 44. The yoke encircles the box bearing'-onthe" rear follower, and the rear end 51 of the draw-bar 52 preferably bears on the front follower where it is exposed by the forward aperture 49. The bufling stresses are transmitted-in the usual manner through the followers and springs constituting the shock-absorbing member within the box through the rear wall of the box to the rear stops, and the drawing stresses are transmitted through the yoke to the rear aged by the yoke where it is exposed by the rear aperture 48 in the box, through the springs and the front follower to the front wall of the box and through thiswall by compression as in the former case to'the tront'stops 43.

The box thus described acts as' a means for holding the springs, spacing members, front and rear followers in assembled position, so that no single spring, spacing member or follower can be lost, and so that in case of failure of one shock-absorbing member, another, assembled completely ready for o oration, may be instantly substituted there or.

I have thus described specifically two embodiments of my invention in order that its nature and operation may be clearly understood. However, the specific terms herein are used in their descriptive rather than in their limitiiu sense and the scope of the invention is defined in the claims.

I claim- 1. In a draft ear, in combination, a horizontal yoke, a (raw-bar, means connecting the draw-bar and yoke, spring plates extending through the yoke, spacing members be tween the springs to flex the same, and a box inclosing the springs and spacing members, followers within the yoke bearing on the front and rear springs, the box having end members and openings at its front and rear nds by way of which the buffing and drawmg stresses are transmitted from the yoke and draw-bar to the springs, the box being divided on a lateral plane into two sections and having means for connecting the sec tions.

2. Ina draft gear, in combination. a horizontal yoke, a draw-bar, means conneetin the draw-bar and yoke, spring plates extend: ing through the yoke, spacing members heeach ;en(1 to permit teach follower to bear on the plates, and means at each end for holdi'ng'the springs in place, the box being, (1 l tween the springs to flex the same, a box inmembers,

ralitfy of-laterztlly disposed plate springs, means for spacing the same and a box inclosing the springs-,th'e box being open at videdintermediately in a plane atright a-n gles to the length of the draft gear.

length, to provide for the insertion of the shocloabsorbing member consisting of a plu- 4..A spring box for draft gear, the box being divided i'n a plane tran'sverse'to'its springs iind'being open at each, end and having means adjacenteach opening for supportingthespring's.

Signed by me at Baltimore, Maryland, 2'0

this 10: dziy of Deceniben, 1912-. p p I ,QTHOMA S H. syn-moron.

Witnesses;- 1

EDWARD L. BAsH', T. G. DE 'Rossn'r. 

